School board election contenders trickle in before deadline

FAIRFIELD — One of the most recent local residents to express intent in running for a school board seat is Deloris Roach, who pulled candidate papers Friday for a seat on the Vacaville School District governing board.

She is expected to officially file papers with the Solano County Registrar of Voters by Wednesday.

Roach, who is a former school board member in Emeryville, is a business owner, Vacaville parent and has a grandson in the school district. Her accomplishments include working with teachers and school administrators designing curriculum and training community volunteers to use the Community Awareness and Responsibility program when she worked for the city of Fairfield.

“I am running because I want to be part of the policymaking process that ensures my grandson and the other approximately 11,200 students in Vacaville Unified get a world-class education,” she said, in a press release to announce her candidacy.

She is endorsed by Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada, D-Davis, and Linda Seifert, chairwoman of the Solano County Board of Supervisors, according to the press release.

If elected, Roach’s priorities include, “ensuring that Common Core State Standards are implemented in a way that benefits every student; following closely the implementation of the district’s Local Control Accountability Plan (the new funding formula for schools); putting in place effective programs that help decrease student absenteeism and the resulting drain on the district’s budget; and working to get more parents and businesses involved in schools.”

The field of candidates as of 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Solano County Registrar of Voters, includes incumbent David Isom (Area 7), Robert Lucky and Chris Wilson (both for Area 4), and Jonathan Richardson (Area 5), who have filed papers declaring their candidacy for three seats that are up for election in the Fairfield-Suisun School District. Two of those seats currently belong to Isom, and Perry Polk, who is not seeking re-election but is instead running for a Fairfield City Council seat.

This is the first election in the Fairfield-Suisun district when voters will choose candidates from specific trustee areas, rather than through at-large voting. The third seat up for grabs belongs to Trustee Dave Gaut, whose term also expires in 2014. Due to these voting changes, his Area 2 position will phase out, leaving Trustee Pat Shamansky in Area 2 until 2016.

Joyce Oren pulled papers indicating a possible run for Area 7 but has not officially filed, according to the website.

In Vacaville, incumbents Shelley Dally, David McCallum and Christopher Flask have filed papers to run for three of four seats that are up for grabs on the school district governing board. Flask’s seat is a short-term provisional seat previously held by a board member who resigned. The other seat is held by Horace “Whit” Whitman, who has not yet officially filed, but pulled papers of intent in July.

Newcomers who have indicated an intent to run by pulling papers are Roach, Judith Ruggiero, Jeremy Jeffreys and Tracee Stacy. The latter three are running on the same platform. Shawn Windham pulled nomination papers to run against Flask for the short-term seat.

Solano Community College has four area seats up for grabs, with Pam Keith (Area 1), A. Marie Young (Area 2), Denis Honeychurch (Area 4) and Sarah Chapman (Area 6) looking at terms that expire this year. Honeychurch and Young both filed paperwork with the Registrar of Voters.

Travis Unified School District holds elections on odd years, with 2015 being its next election.

Information about candidates can be found on the Solano County Registrar of Voters website at www.co.solano.ca.us/depts/rov. The deadline to file for school board races is Friday.

Reach Susan Winlow at 427-6955 or [email protected] Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/swinlowdr.